I have seen a number of queries on creating Grey Cup Pool Boards since the site has been set up so I decided this year I will write a guide. It might be a little late for most people this year, but I think it will prove useful in the future.

Grey Cup Pool Boards were long a fall staple in service clubs and small communities across this country. They are perhaps rarer now, with pool tickets peddled by amateur teams now taking their place in terms of popularity and visibility to the average Canadian.

Update: I have received some feedback that my memory isn’t that good. Using common scores rather than all scores (closest without going over) is apparently more popular than I’ve seen (or remember), and other options of using the last digit and a deck of cards were mentioned though I am not sure how those work. Using a score range is apparently something I just made up. I’ve only listed some ideas to get you started. The limit is your imagination.

Here are cfldb’s few easy steps to create a Grey Cup Pool Board:

Determine how many squares you want. 10x10 = 100 squares/entries, 20x20 = 400 squares/entries, 30x30 = 900 squares/entries. It is best to pick a lower number to ensure all squares get used.

Find a surface for your pool board. This has traditionally been sheets of 22”x28” poster board available from office supply stores. In the case of an office pool, a whiteboard that won’t be erased (or tampered with) may serve the purpose. You may need more than one board depending on how large you want the squares and how many squares you have.

Label the top East and the right side West. You can divide the top left most square in half from top left to bottom right and put the labels in each half.

Divide the remaining board into a grid of the number of rows + 1 x the number of columns + 1. For example a 10x10 grid becomes 11x11, the extra row and column are for the team scores. Do not write in the score values yet.

There are a number of variations in how to setup your pool board

Let people pick their square(s) before the scores are written in to make selections fair for everyone. After the board is full, put the scores on pieces of paper and draw them from a hat to write them down in order, first for the East, then drawn again for the West.

Writing in the scores beforehand can be done in situations where players want to be able to pick their score, such as in an office pool where other arrangements have determined who picks first, or it is first come, first served.

I have heard that some pool boards used only common scores (3, 7, 10, 14, etc.). The closest score was determined the winner. Your results may vary.

Scores always start at zero (0)

For smaller boards (10x10), score ranges can be used instead of actual scores. For example 0-1, 2-3, 4-5, etc.

Scores also wrap around, so for a 20x20 board (score range of 0 to 19), a score of 0 will match 0, 20, 40, 60, 1 will match 1, 21, 41, 61, etc.

If legal in your jurisdiction, charge an entry fee for each square. Players usually write their name on a square to indicate their ownership of it. Entry fees go towards prizes. Clubs and organizations sometimes take a percentage of the proceeds for a fund raising initiative.

Specify the prizes for matching the correct end of quarter scores (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th) and final score. You can also award a prize for reversed final score. For a 10x10 grid and $5 entry fee the total prize pool will equal $500. If you award $25 for quarter scores ($100) and $50 for reverse final score there is $350 left for the final score winner.

That is how you do it to my recollection. Of course there are probably many variations used across the country and favoured by long-time organizers. If you have any corrections, improvements or other styles you would like to share please leave them below.

Remember to check with CFLdb soon after the game to see our published quarter scores for the latest Grey Cup.

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